Looking forward to our 2nd Angel Food Distribution.  God has given us a heart to serve the community.  We are excited about the opportunities that God is giving us to serve people from every walk of life.  It takes about 20 great volunteers to make this happen.  We are so grateful to the Lorton Fire Department for donating the use of the fire house for the distribution.  Thanks Chief Curtis!

This past Saturday an amazing thing happened.  The pastoral team was gone to Atlanta and the Lorton Fire Department had their open house.  With the staff gone you might think that the SCC would not be able to respond to a practical need in the community….WRONG!  We had a team of people who stepped up to the plate and served hotdogs at the fire station from 9am-3pm.  They made a great impact and showed the love of God in a practical way.  Thanks for all you guys did to make this a great day in Lorton!

Good morning,

I hope each of you have the chance to sleep in a bit this morning.  Most of you…I imagine…are not up yet and that is not a bad thing.  Mornings for me are a place of solitude and escape from the craziness of the day.  This is when I get to spend time reading God’s word, reflecting on it and journal about what I am learning about myself and what needs to change.

I’m prompted to write this morning to encourage you in your time with the Lord.  You can call it Quiet Time or Devotional Time or whatever.  It really doesn’t matter what you call it, but that YOU make it a priority.  The time and place where it happens should be consistent.  You should be alone.  Jesus many times in scripture left the crowds to be alone.  God wants to speak to you, but each of us must prepare to listen to His voice.  This requires getting away from the distractions of life…yes even our spouses or significant others.

If we are going to experience all that God wants in our personal lives and the church, we must treasure God’s word.  It is not a task…it is our very life.  Hebrews 4 says the word of God is alive and powerful.  It must never be just another Christian book on our shelf.  It is the most important book you possess.

Nothing should take the place of spending time with the Lord.  Some people get caught up doing ministry and never develop a daily habit of time with God.  This is sad and unfortunately describes many Christians.

The question is this - Have you spent your time with the Lord today?  If the answer is Yes…fantastic!  If the answer is no then this is my response…Then why are you doing anything else?  He must be first!

I love you!  Thanks for the opportunity to share with you.

Andy

Pastor Andy was adamant and sincere when he said it: “I don’t want to be the cool Pastor….” This was an interesting statement from a guy who certainly could claim to be the “cool” Pastor. He’s young, energetic, relational, humble, caring, friendly, passionate… He’s sports-minded, rides a motorcycle, doesn’t wear a tie when he preaches, wears a baseball cap, doesn’t preach from the King James Version of the Bible, and is the chosen Pastor to perform marriage ceremonies for the young couples that he knows… All these things would cause us to think of him as “cool.” And yet, he told us emphatically that he does not desire to be “cool.” He went on to state: “What I want is to be trusted to do what God has called me to do in the South County area.”

Not “cool” – “trusted.” What does the word “trusted” mean? It means that someone can put their faith in you. Someone can believe in you. Someone can know that you’ve got their back. Someone can depend upon you. That’s what Pastor Andy desires — for God to have faith in him; for God to believe in him; for God to know that Pastor Andy has His back; for God to be able to depend upon him. What a wish! What a desire!

If that’s Pastor Andy’s desire, shouldn’t it also be our desire? Don’t we want him to succeed at that to which God has called him? If so, then we have to get on board with him, also desiring to be trusted to do God’s will in South County. None of us are here by accident. We’re here at South County because God has brought us together, as a group, to do a special work here. There are families in South County that will not be reached by any other church. There are families in South County that need a place where they can come to find God. There are families in South County that need friendly, caring people to welcome them into their fellowship.

Let’s make our prayer the same as Pastor Andy’s: “God, we want to be trusted – we want to be the people that You want us to be for South County.”

Think about it. Not “cool” – “trusted.”

Reading from Psalm 96: 1-11, 1 Chronicles 16: 23-33, Matthew 28: 16-20

A Call to All Nations!

 The Lord has called us to a “Great Commission”; A call to all nations to praise the Lord as the only God and to spread his message to the ends of the earth. But broken down: in our own homes, neighborhoods, work places. I think many times we go through life and are very selfish about the great things that God has done in our lives. I know that is true in my case. Most times I’m ashamed of saying something especially when someone has seen me in my worst of times. But I need to understand no matter how many times I’ve messed up in my past or how many times I’m going to mess up that God still loves me. God is still going to use me. The world needs to know that, my friends need to know that, my co-workers need to know that. They need to know becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that you now have to be perfect for the rest of your life. That is one of the misconceptions from non-believers and one of the things that keeps them away. We need to “…proclaim his salvation day after day.”(Ps 96:2). Pastor Andy broke it down so simply yesterday when he was talking about witnessing: when we tell people of about Christ, we just tell them what has already happened in our hearts a manifestation of his love and mercy; nice, simple, and real. We serve a great God, a great God that we cannot keep as our “little” secret. We can’t keep him just for ourselves. He’s called us for more, he’s the Lord of all creation, and it’s our call to “declare his glory among all the nations…” (Ps 96:3) and to all of South County.

~~~Pedro~~~>

We took the family to Hershey Park over the 4th of July.  It was so much fun seeing Drew & Cassidy have so much fun.  Even the hotel was fun as we watched Drew jump from bed to bed.  They both had a blast.  My mother in law, Barbara, went with us and the kids also had fun taking turns spending the night with her in the adjoining room.  It was a mini vacation and fun to let loose a bit. 

What made our time away the most special was knowing that the church was alive and well without us.  There was a parade in Lorton on the 4th.  We knew we would not be able to be there.  We had already rescheduled our get-away because of jury duty that had interrupted it.  This is what was so amazing…the church stepped up to the plate and participated in the parade.  Not only did they participate in the parade, but they had a space reserved to bless the kids of the community.  They gave out water bottles and made animal balloons for several hundred kids.  I am more convinced than ever that God is using us for his honor and glory.  Special thanks to the Henleys, Zakrewskis, Germains and Sykes.  You represented Christ to the Lorton Community.  Thanks for giving it your all.

We love you! PA & CC

I struggled for a few days whether or not to get baptized next week. My pride almost got the best of me, and the thought of what would people think of me almost overpowered my willingness to be completely real about my faith.  I remember being in middle school at a Sunday night service while people were being baptized. The joy on their faces inspired me to do the same, and the following month I was the one up there being baptized. I was young, and I didn’t fully realize the commitment I was making.  

Years went by, bad decisions were made, and the commitment I made seemed completely faded. But God is always faithful. Through hurt, through trials, through circumstances he is always present. His ultimate plan is greater than any wrong I could’ve done; and It’s amazing to see how God can take you from one place to a completely different one.  I could’ve never dreamed that one day I would be a worship leader at a brand new church, with a great band, beautiful girlfriend, and amazing friendships that are taking place at South County. 

Being baptized symbolizes the best thing that has ever happened to me: The greatness of God’s mercy and love, and the renewing of the vow I made to him and the commitment of the rest my life completely devoted. I encourage everyone whether you’ve been a Christian for 5 minutes, 5 years, 50 years, whatever it maybe, do not be ashamed to re-devote your heart to Christ. 

~~~Pedro~~~>

We had an awesome time in Chicago last week for Eric & Elizabeth’s wedding.  Yes, some of you know her as Liz, but for the ceremony…it was Elizabeth. :)  Cindy and I went a day early to relax a bit before all the festivities started.  We visited the Navy Pier and even had a chance to take a boat ride.  It was a special time for us.  The wedding was wonderful.  It was great to see people who had traveled the distance to be there.  I know it was special for them as it was for us. 

Funny story:  After Eric & Elizabeth exchanged their vows they surprised each other with personal vows.  It was amazing.  One of the things Eric said was, I promise to do my best to love you as Christ loved the church.  Elizabeth responded with, “That was good.”  Then Elizabeth pulled out a foam number 1 with her personal vows written on the back.  The blue foam number 1 was something you would take to a football game.  It was absolutely hilarious.  She promised to be Eric’s #1 fan. 

We love them and are so happy for them.  They are on their honey moon and we wish them God’s best. 

This past Sunday our youth pastor (Daniela Sykes) talked to us about going from Good to Great.  We were honoring our graduates for their accomplishments, but she was calling all of us to God’s Greatness.  She preached from Genesis 12:1-4 and the call of Abram.  As soon as we get it posted…You can check out her message at http://www.southcountycares.org/services.php

This past Saturday was absolutely amazing.  The Lorton Fire Department was having a Yard Sale to raise funds for their $491,000 Fire Truck and we had an opportunity to serve.  A team from SCM was there to do crafts with the kids, face painting and animal balloons.  We had a lot of fun and interacted with lots of people.  Many people I had met either at Caribou or Gold’s Gym.  I was proud of our team.  Pedro, Pastor Daniela, Chris, Ana, Caron and Cindy and I  were there.  Several people from the church came by to see us too.  We had a blast, but the best part was serving our community.  God is leading us step by step.  At the end of the event we have been invited to be at 4 more events during the year.  Praise God for what he is doing in our community.